by Gennie Telock In remembrance of the Stonewall Rts that took place on this date 50 years ago, we are sharg the story of a seri of police raids on gay men Long Beach the summer of 1914, s impact on the muny, and the one man who fought back agast the system.…
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GAY L.A. – LONG BEACH’S CENTRAL PLACE QUEER L.A. HISTORY
“The bars, shops, and spac Alamos Beach have long been a refuge for gay people across our regn. In the 1960s and early ’70s, beg gay was still nsired by many a mental illns, and even the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn didn’t remove om the list of mental disorrs until 1973. Club Rippl, which spent nearly 50 years on Ocean Boulevard but has sce closed after s owners retired, was, like other Long Beach gay bars, among the only safe plac those who were LGBTQ uld hang out.
Garcia, the cy’s first openly gay mayor, tied the moment to a broar fight for social jtice. And April, Long Beach hosted a biannual LGBTQ nference that featured about 600 legat om around the world talkg about lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and tersex human rights their untri. In 1914, two men were arrted durg a raid of the 606 Club and the 96 Club, two gay spac that had been on the police force’s radar for some time.
In the 1950s, gay bars like The Patch and gay societi like the Dghters of Bilis and the Long Beach-based Satyrs Motorcycle Club offered a way for LGBT rints to gather far away om the threat of police raids. In the midst of all this, however, the threat of entrapment, police vlence and random homophobic acts lgered the background.